George, C.J., Wally and Ginny on the Lady II en route to Stehekin
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Ginny and Wally were taking their summer getaway and invited us to join them in Chelan, then go to Stehekin with them. Tom and Lori were willing to rent us their house for most of a week and Ginny made arrangements for the boat to Stehekin and a place to stay for a night. It was a good plan and the weather cooperated with sunny skies and moderate temperatures.
25 Jul, Mon - C.J. and I left home at 1500, stopped at Lone Pine for cherries (Bings @ $0.99!) and got to Tom and Lori's at 1815. Ginny and Wally had arrived about an hour earlier and had already settled in. C.J. had brought along some dal bhat for dinner and baked a "loaf" of pita bread, too.
26 Jul, Tues - Ginny made a scramble for breakfast. Later, around 1100, after C.J. completed some CBCC business, we left for a hike to Stormy Mtn (7198'), the highest point in the Chelan Mountains (the range on the SW side of the lake). (Somehow we had left home without any local
maps, not even a WA gazetteer; luckily we ran into a USFS ranger who had a map of local hikes for us.) It was a long drive to the trailhead at Windy Pass (6100') but the trail turned out
to be much better than I expected. The 1.5 mi single-track path climbed the ridge with only two short switchbacks staying mostly in the limber pines, and there was an incredible display of wildflowers along the way. The summit was broad and without any structures although it looked like there was a foundation for something like a fire tower. We met only one other hiker and he was coming down just as we started up. Descending the trail was much faster than the ascent and we were back in time for appetizers with Ginny and Wally (who had ridden their bikes into town and then come back for their vehicle and gone to lunch at a winery near Manson) before a dinner of beef stew.
27 Jul, Wed - After Ginny cooked French toast for all of us we left for the Butte about 1030. Doug and Denise were there with students and flying from Lakeside to Lone Pine LZ. Doug pointed out that it was blown out down in Cashmere/Wenatchee and it would probably blow out on the Butte soon also. Although cycles were coming up Ants (and dust devils between the rocks), the general wind direction remained west, up the Lakeside launch. [Meanwhile Mer, Steve T, Jim and Bill had arrived, and Tom, a Canadian flying a Mantra, was ready for his second flight. Dave Verbois, whom we hadn't seen in years, was also on launch with his daughter.] I got ready to go even though all the students and even Doug were finding no lift. I launched before Wally and sank as I crossed to the spine. Just barely clearing the power lines on the upper part of the spine, I found light lift and climbed slowly above launch level. Eventually I got over the towers and continued climbing under a newly-formed cloud. No one else had launched after me; apparently the west wind had died and the XC pilots were waiting on the more usual takeoffs. I wasn't all that crazy about the conditions in the air so when I got to 5000' I headed north hoping to find lift along the way to Deer Mountain. There was nothing and I passed over Walmart checking out a new, grassy area that seemed to be a city park. I made it almost to the top of Deer but did not find any workable lift and turned back toward Walmart. Wally meanwhile had launched and reached 6000' and followed me across. Somewhat energized by his presence, I worked some bubbles off the lower cliffs along the highway but didn't find enough to climb out. I crossed the WM parking lot (lifty) and circled down over the new park. Looked good, better than the weedy lots closer to WM. It was pleasant to land in the light breeze from the lake on new grass (36 min), and it wasn't all that hot packing up in the sun. Wally landed shortly after I did, and then C.J. passed high overhead, got up again on Deer and continued on to the airport where she landed in the old campground. Ginny picked us all up and we returned to the house for lunch. Much later we heard that Mer and some of her group had flown as far as Wilbur (60 mi). Late in the afternoon C.J. and I went out to get gas, cash at the ATM, and a rotisserie chicken for dinner. Tomorrow we are off to Stehekin, a long-delayed item on our bucket list.
28 Jul, Thu - We all got up early enough to do breakfast and still get to the Lady of the Lake boat
dock by 0800. By 0830 we were pulling out on our way to Stehekin, a trip we've wanted to do since we first came to Chelan in the early 80's. The Lady II is the slowest way to get to Stehekin - we wouldn't arrive until close to 1330 what with stops at Fields Point, a couple of cabins, and two backpacker trailheads.
After checking in to the Stehekin Landing Resort where we shared a large room and deck with Ginny and Wally (photo, below left, view from the deck), we had lunch at the restaurant. (Yes, THE restaurant; the only two other eating places,
the bakery and Stehekin Ranch, are some distance from town but reachable by National Park Service red shuttle buses, private taxis, bicycles and on foot.) Ginny and Wally rented bikes for 24 hours and we also decided to rent for a couple of hours since they were relatively inexpensive ($4/hr). Heading up the Stehekin River road we passed the NPS Purple Point campground, the organic garden, the bakery, and the old and new schools before reaching the short trail leading to Rainbow Falls, a 300-foot waterfall roaring and spraying mist. We had it pretty much to ourselves with the shuttle not arriving until we were leaving.
Ginny and Wally continued on up river to Harlequin Bridge and beyond while C.J. and I retraced our route. This time we stopped at the old one-room school (which C.J. had applied to when we first moved to the northwest) with schoolwork displayed from its last years before the new school opened in 1989 (?). The new (two-room) school was also open for us tourists and it looks like they have a capable and imaginative teacher from the project displays. Next we made the obligatory stop at the bakery where we shared an excellent slice of blueberry pie a la mode. The organic garden was our last stop and it had a great assortment of healthy-looking veggies, including some we did not recognize. Back at the resort we turned in our bikes and walked up to the Golden West NPS visitor center (located in the old Golden West Inn building) and looked at the exhibits and gallery. Then we returned to our room and took showers to get ready for dinner which we had reserved for 1900. Dinner was great; the half rack of BBQ ribs was excellent and C.J. enjoyed her panko-breaded salmon.
29 Jul, Fri - We had breakfast at the restaurant (pretty much the only choice since there really
is no grocery store in Stehekin). We were ready early for our kayak rental so Dianne at the kiosk called Adam to set us up for 0830 instead of a half-hour later. C.J. and I got a Current Designs plastic tandem with a rudder. While Ginny and Wally were getting their singles (also with rudders) we started paddling across the lake. About midway across (0.35 mi), the wind picked up and small whitecaps formed. We continued on to the pictographs on the cliff face directly across from Stehekin Landing. From there we paddled north following the shoreline around the head of the lake and passing a boat-access campground. We returned to the marina and returned our kayak having paddled about 2.8 mi in a bit more than an hour. (Kayak 
rental was only $15 per hour for a tandem). We got back to the room early enough to finish packing and clear out before the 1030 deadline and stowed our gear in a shed near the kiosk. Wally and Ginny went to return their bikes while we headed off on the Imus nature trail loop which had a guidebook (plastic-coated) that pointed out the different environments we passed through and some of the peaks that were visible in the distance -McGregor, Buckner, Boston and Sahale, some with glaciers. When we reached the end of the trail back on the Stehekin River Road, we found another much 
shorter trail that took us to a log cabin and an old water-turbine generator. Back at the resort we bought a sandwich, visited "The House That Jack Built", a local crafts shop, then headed south on the Lakeshore Trail. We probably covered 1.5 miles or so mostly in pine forest, crossing the occasional creek, one of which had had a major blowout this spring and the bank was piled with rocks and gravel. We had lunch on a rocky point with a good view of the lake and Castle Mountain. On the way back we saw the Lady II arriving at Stehekin so we knew we had an hour before it was time to get back on board for the trip down the lake. That gave us plenty of time to pick up an ice cream bar and Mrs. Field's sandwich for dessert. We boarded shortly after 1400 and picked a spot in the cabin out of the sun. The NW wind was strong enough that the 14 knot speed of the boat did not make any wind, and at times the flag was blowing forward. We made only three stops, at a cabin, at Lucerne and at Fields Point, before reaching the Lakeside dock at 1800. Back at Tom and Lori's, C.J. made a stir fry from the leftover chicken and veggies for dinner.
29 Jul, Fri - After breakfast, laundry and cleaning up the house we headed home. One stop at
Lone Pine to pick up some more local, inexpensive cherries (Rainier, $1.89). Ginny and Wally met us at home and around 1615 we left for Puyallup to have dinner at Mama Stortini's with Uncle Harry and Cousin Jim.
More photos here.
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